Plush toys, those having soft, generally fabric exteriors and sometimes stuffed with a padding material, have been popular with both children and adults since the nineteenth century. Such plush toys are generally formed in the shape of animals, the "teddy bear" being by far the most popular design.
Although plush toys are popular, there have been many attempts in the past to enhance the appeal of such toys to children by adding functional features to the toys. One such attempt has been the development of a number of plush toy designs that are in some way reversible. These designs allow the toy to be changed into a different toy by some physical manipulation of the toy. One such design is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,648 to Garfinkel. In this design, the toy is formed in a first animal shape having a zipper running the length of the first animal's back. When the zipper is unzipped, a second animal shape is revealed to be concealed within the toy. Inverting the zipper flaps so that they cover the front of the first animal and then closing the zipper transforms the toy completely into the second animal shape.
Another reversible toy design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,264 to McLeod, Jr. This design is similar to the Garfinkel design, except that the zipper is located in the stomach of each animal, rather than in the animal's back.
Yet another reversible toy design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,665 to Moreau. In this design, two heads are formed facing in opposite directions and having necks joined together at a common juncture. A reversible shell fabric cover is joined to the toy at the common juncture. By covering one of the heads with the shell so as to form a first body, a first toy design may be created. A second toy design is created by flipping the reversible shell so as to cover the other head, thereby forming a second body.
In each of these prior art reversible toy designs, the functionality of the toy is enhanced due to the reversability of the design. However, each of the prior art designs exhibit the serious flaw that they are unnatural and even grotesque. Real animals do not have zippers in their backs and stomachs from which emerge other animals. There is therefore a need in the prior art for a reversible toy design which incorporates the reversability function into a natural feature of the toy shape. The present invention is directed toward meeting this need.